As we informed you in this posta few days ago, Ecopreneur.eu and 350.org had joined forces recently to organise an international workshop last Friday, 5th June, in Barcelona. We successfully brought the “Divestment” campaign to Spain, and took it to the next level along the process by merging it with the funding of green businesses: Divest from fossil fuels, invest in green business. To do so, we got the support from Triodos Bank and GLS Bank, the banks of reference in Spain and Germany in terms of transparency and ethic. They acted as main partners, as well as Impact Hub Barcelona that hosted the event.

Moreover, a large number of organizations and media partners cooperated with the workshop, organising media campaigns to intensely promote it. Our deep gratitude to all of them! Their support and commitment were absolutely essentials for the success of the workshop!

The workshop linked the “divest from fossil fuels” movement (led by 350.org) with the “invest in green business” one (led by Ecopreneur.eu) by presenting alternatives to responsible investors, some represented by the attending banks. Juliane Reiber (UnternehmensGrün, founding member of Ecopreneur.eu) underlined that “climate change is the biggest challenge of our times and of the current political landscape”.

This event allowed a unique insight to the eco-entrepreneurial founding scene in Europe. The participating green Start-ups outlined in a pitch their eco-entrepreneurial goals and practices. Alternative investors coming from the above mentioned Triodos Bank and GLS Bank discussed funding and financing issues relevant for start-ups. Luis Morales (Greenbiz, member of Ecopreneur.eu) stated that “the start-up scene here in Spain and also Europe is very diverse in all aspects of sustainability. Hence, it was very helpful to directly hear from ethical banks, which aspects and topics are of relevance for future investors.”

Apart from divesting from fossils and investing in CO2 avoiding businesses, the subjects Green Business, Climate Movement and the Green Economy were part of the energising and inspiring event’s agenda. Yorian Bordes (De Groene Zaak, member of Ecopreneur.eu) outlined that “as we are now on the move with Ecopreneur.eu, this will greatly help to bring forward an alternative economy focusing on sustainability and circularity”.

Frédéric Benhaim (Entreprendre Vert, founding member of Ecopreneur.eu) “this has been a wonderful, concrete step to connect green initiatives and entrepreneurs across Europe. We are building a stronger, more integrated European green economy both at the EU level and at the grassroots level”.

You can follow the conversation in Twitter with the hashtag #InvestGreen. We encourage you to participate and get involved! 😉